Psychosocial Correlates of Physical Activity in Home School and Public School Children

Abstract

In recent years, there has been considerable public health interest in better understanding factors that influence physical activity behavior in youth. With the growing popularity of home schooling, it is important to determine if home school children differ from public school children with regard to physical activity and correlates of physical activity. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the psychosocial correlates and self-reported physical activity (PA) behaviors of home school and public school children. METHODS: Home school (n = 79) and public school (n = 1,076) children from matched communities in a Midwestern state completed a survey instrument containing the Children's Physical Activity Correlates Scale (CPAC) and the Children's Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ) during their normal physical education class period (public school) or during a separate group enrichment session (home school). Multivariate analysis of covariance (controlling for age and location) was used to test for possible differences in these measures and regression analyses were used to examine relationships between the correlate measures and physical activity. RESULTS: Home school youth were found to have significantly higher activity scores (ES = .32) and more favorable values on the psychosocial correlates (Attraction to PA, ES = .40; Perceived Competence, ES = .28; Parental Influence, ES = .57) than public school children. Males reported higher levels of attraction and perceived competence (p<.016) than females for both school type. For home school children, PAQ scores and parental influence were higher for females than males, while the scores for public school youth were similar. The psychosocial correlates of activity explained a higher percentage of the variance in the home school sample (R2 = 31.7%) compared to the public school youth (R2 = 24.7%) and there were differences in the relative importance of the individual correlate measures. Attraction to physical activity (an affective component) was the most important predictor for both samples (R2 = 20–25%) but parental influence was found to contribute unique variance only with the public school sample (3.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The psychosocial correlates predicted PA in both samples but the variance accounted for and relative importance of the different constructs varied between the samples.